Golf putter

ABSTRACT

A golf putter including on the upper surface thereof a plate having a straight forward edge which is angled relative to the striking face. The plate may overhang and obscure the striking face and be adjustably secured to the head at various inclinations relative the striking face so that the striking face assumes predetermined open or closed attitudes relative the line of approach between the putter head and the hole when the formed edge of the plate is normal to the line of approach. The plate may be secured to the head by magnetic attraction or by threaded securing elements. Cooperating indexing marks may be provided on the putter head and plate to facilitate adjustments.

United States Patent [72] Inventor LoyallLChapman 1801 Flag Ave. South, Minneapolis, Minn. 55428 [2|] AppLNo. 800,417

[22] Filed Feb. 19, 1969 [45] Patented .lnly27, 1971 [54] GOLF PUTTER Primary Examiner-George .l. Marlo Attorney-Wayne 13. Easton ABSTRACT: A golf putter including on the upper surface thereof a plate having a straight forward edge which is angled relative to the striking face. The plate may overhang and obscure the striking face and be adjustably secured to the head at various inclinations relative the striking face so that the striking face assumes predetermined open or closed attitudes relative the line of approach between the putter head and the hole when the formed edge of the plate is nonnal to the line of approach. The plate may be secured to the head by magnetic attraction or by threaded securing elements, Cooperating indexing marks may be provided on the putter head and plate to facilitate adjustments.

GOLF PU'I'IER The invention relates to a new and improved golf putter.

Some golfers consistently putt with either an opened or closed putter striking face which causes inaccurate putting. The terms open" and closed" are defined or have meaning relative to the line of approach which is an imaginery line between the center of the ball to be putted and the center of the cup.

For convenience the putter head will be referred to as having a shaft which is closest to the golfer and afar end which is the opposite end, or the end furthest from the golfer. With the use of this terminology an open face" stroke is one in which the shaft end of the head leads the far end. Conversely, with a closed face stroke the shaft end of the head trails the far end. In general, for a right-handed golfer, an opened face stroke will cause the ball to go to the right of the hole.

A golfer cannot consciously correct or compensate for an opened or closed face putting stroke because there are only a few angular degrees involved and his senses while making the stroke, do not detect such small angular deviations. If he does make a conscious effort to effect a compensation in the op posite direction there results a gross overcompensation which actually multiplies the error in the opposite direction.

The present invention is directed to the providing of aiming means which is indexed angularly relative to the stroking face of the putter. The golfer aims as he always has but the fact that the striking face is angularly offset by a few degrees provides a compensatory effect which markedly improves the overall accuracy of the putting.

A main object of the invention is to provide a new and improved putter having aiming means angularly offset from the striking face of the putter to compensate for a putting stroke which is consistently either opened faced or closed faced.

, FIG. 1 is a perspective, fragmentary and exploded view of a golf putter embodying the invention which shows the head and a portion of the shaft of the putter;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the putter shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the putter shownin FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective, fragmentary and exploded view of a golf putter which constitutes a second embodiment of the in vention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective, fragmentary and exploded view of a golf putter which constitutes a third embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the putter embodying the invention as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 comprises a putter head having upper and lower head portions and 11 and a shaft 13 fixedly attached to the lower head portion 11. The lower head portion 11 has a generally rectangular shape with a striking face 15 which is flat or planar and is disposed in a generally vertical plane.

The upper putter head portion 10 also has a generally rectangular shape but has a lesser height or thickness and is generally platelike in form and appearance. The front edge 16 of the upper putter head portion or plate 10 is one form of aiming indicia which may be utilized in accordance with the invention.

Plate 10 is preferably in removably detachable relation to the lower head portion 11 but may be permanently affixed or integral therewith within the scope of the invention. Various attaching'means may be utilized but in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 a magnetic attachment is contemplated with either 'of the parts having magnetic properties and the other part containing iron so that it is susceptible of being magnetically attracted to a magnet. Magnetic inserts or the like (not shown) could also be utilized but the invention is not concerned-with the specific manner in which the attachment is accomplished.

Referring to FIG. 2, the plate 10 is magnetically attached to the lower head portion 11 so that the front edge 16 of plate 10 is angularly offset relative to the striking face 15. The amount or degree of angular offset is determined by the golfer who makes the setting in accordance with the degree of correction dictated by his putting habits or characteristics. With the plate 10 being indexed as illustrated it may be deduced that it is a right-handed golfers opened-face stroke that requires correction. In the process of putting the golfer will attempt to swing the putter head, in striking the ball, so that the plate edge 16 is maintained normal to the line of approach 20 during the putting stroke. If the golfer were successful in this attempt it is apparent that a closed-face stroke would result because, with reference to the approach line 20, the shaft end 21 of the head would lag the far end 22 of the head. It is anticipated that his opened-face stroke habit" will prevail, however, such that during the stroke the plate edge 16 will be open" relative to the approach line 20 and accuracy will be indirectly achieved by reason of the striking face 15 being maintained substantially normal to the line 20. The degree of indexing necessary will be a matter of experimentation for each golfer who will make trial and error adjustments until the best results are achieved for him.

With further reference to FIG. 2, it will be understood that the setting shown is exaggerated for the purpose of illustration and that in actual practice the angular deviation of edge 16 relative to striking face 15 will only be on the order of about I to 5.

With reference to FIG. 3, it will be desirable if the plate 10 overhangs the striking face 15 by a slight amount so that the plate edge 16 will be visible to the golfer while putting but the striking face 15 will be hidden from his view. This is not absolutely essential within the scope of the invention but it is no doubt preferable from the psychological standpoint so that the seeing of the attitude or position of the striking face 15 does not give rise to sudden and involuntary misgivings. With further reference to FIG. 3, the height of the lower head portion 11 should be sufficient so that the ball 25 is not struck by the plate edge 16.

In its broadest sense the plate edge 16 is a form of aiming indicia and it is quite apparent that aiming devices or arrangements could assume many different forms within the scope of the invention. Forms such as etched or painted lines, decals, molded insignia and the like are all contemplated as being forms of aiming indicia.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 4 in which, among other things, scale means is provided for implementing the indexing of the aiming indicia. This putter comprises upper and lower portions and 111 and a shaft 113. The upper putter head portion or plate 110 also has a generally rectangular shape but has a lesser height or thickness and is generally platelike in form and appearance. The front edge 116 of the upper putter head portion or plate 110 comprises the aiming indicia having the same function as the corresponding plate edge 16 in the first described embodiment of the invention. 7

The shaft 113 is provided with a lower cylindrically shaped indexing shank 114. Plate 110 has a hole at one end thereof for receiving the shank 114 and the plate is fixedly attached to the shank. Shank 114 extends through and below the plate 1 10.

Lower head portion 111 has a vertically extending hole 1 17 for receiving shank 114 which has the same nominal diameter as the shank. Shank 114 is insertable into the hole 117 to a depth so that the plate 110 bears or rests on the top surface of the lower head portion 111. With this construction the plate I 10 may be pivoted relative to the head portion 1 11 about the axis of shank 114. Viewed in a different light, the plate edge 116, which is the aiming indicia, is angularly movable with respect to the shank axis and relative to the lower head-striking face 115.

A threaded bore 126 opening from the bottom of shank 114 1 is provided. A screw 127 threadedly engages the threaded bore 126 when the shank 114 is inserted into the head hole 117 to removably attach the plate 110 to the lower head portion 111 via the shank 114. The bottom surface of the lower head portion 111 has a counterbore 128 for the bore 117 for receiving the head of the screw 127 so that the screw head does not protrude below'the lower surface of head portion 111. With this construction plate 110 is pivotally adjustable relative to the lower head portion 111 and the screw 127 serves to secure the plate in the desired adjusted position.

Graduated scale means 130 are provided at the upper edge at the end 122 of the head portion 111 which is opposite the shaft end 121 thereof. A vertical indexing mark or line 131 is provided on the corresponding end of plate 110 which is cooperable with the scale means 130 to facilitate adjusting of the plate relative to the head portion 111. This is an aid to experimentation by the golfer in determining the optimum adjusted position for him.

The general mode of operation of the second embodiment of the invention with regard to making adjustments to compensate for openor closed-faced putting strokes is similar or analogous to that explained in connection with the first embodiment and thus need not be repeated.

A third embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 5 in which the entire putter head is a single piece of metal to which is attached a shaft 213. This putter also comprises upper and lower portions 210 and 211. The upper portion 210 is platelike in appearance and the front edge 216 thereof, which comprises the aiming indicia, overhangs the vertically extending planar striking face 215. The edge 216 is angularly offset relative to the striking face 215 by a fixed amount as distinguished from the first two embodiments in which the offset angle is adjustable. With this putter the golfer knows the degree of correction required for his putting stroke and thus has the correction formed permanently in the putter head.

What I claim is:

1. A golf putter having an upright shaft and a putter head at the lower terminal of said shaft, said head having a striking face extending in a generally vertical plane, said head having a straight leading edge on the upper portion thereof which extends transversely relative to said shaft and substantially coextensively with said striking face, said leading edge being visible to a ready user who has grasped said shaft and has assumed the conventional putting stance, said leading edge being indexed relative to said striking face so that said striking face assumes a predetermined opened or closed attitude relative to the line of I approach between said putter head and the golf hole when said leading edge is normal to said line of approach.

2. A golf ball putter according to claim 1 wherein said striking face is recessed relative to said leading edge.

3. A golf ball putter according to claim 1 wherein said head comprises upper and lower portions, said lower portion having a flat upper surface, said upper portion being in plate form, and means for attaching said upper portion to said lower portion with said upper portion engaging said flat upper surface of said lower portion.

4. A golf ball putter according to claim 3 wherein said shaft is fixedly attached to said lower portion, said upper portion being pivotally mounted relative to said shaft so as to be pivotally movable relative thereto, and means for holding said upper portion in an adjusted position relative to said lower portion.

5. A golf ball putter according to claim 4 including graduated scale and index marking means on said upper and lower portions. 

1. A golf putter having an upright shaft and a putter head at the lower terminal of said shaft, said head having a striking face extending in a generally vertical plane, said head having a straight leading edge on the upper portion thereof which extends transversely relative to said shaft and substantially coextensively with said striking face, said leading edge being visible to a ready user who has grasped said shaft and has assumed the conventional putting stance, said leading edge being indexed relative to said striking face so that said striking face assumes a predetermined opened or closed attitude relative to the line of approach between said putter head and the golf hole when said leading edge is normal to said line of approach.
 2. A golf ball putter according to claim 1 wherein said striking face is recessed relative to said leading edge.
 3. A golf ball putter according to claim 1 wherein said head comprises upper and lower portions, said lower portion having a flat upper surface, said upper portion being in plate form, and means for attaching said upper portion to said lower portion with said upper portion engaging said flat upper surface of said lower portion.
 4. A golf ball putter according to claim 3 wherein said shaft is fixedly attached to said lower portion, said upper portion being pivotally mounted relative to said shaft so as to be pivotally movable relative thereto, and means for holding said upper portion in an adjusted position relative to said lower portion.
 5. A golf ball putter according to claim 4 including graduated scale and index marking means on said upper and lower portions. 